Getting Things Done – Productivity Method

I have a joke about myself that I use quite a bit. It goes something like this, “My favorite way to remove items from my to-do list, is to let them decay off the bottom.”

So you can imagine that I was interested when I saw this Wired story about how to get more done in the info age: it’s based on a book called Getting Things Done [GTD].

Â Implementing GTD alleviates the feeling of overwhelm, instills confidence, and releases a flood of creative energy. It provides structure without constraint, managing details with maximum flexibility. The system rigorously adheres to the core principles of productivity, while allowing tremendous freedom in the â€œhow.â€ The only â€œrightâ€ way to do GTD is getting meaningful things done with truly the least amount of invested attention and energy.

From David Allen‘s website. I also found this very useful diagram ofÂ the process for managing incoming tasks [workflow management]. This seems to be at the core of the Getting Things Done [GTD] philosophy. In general I have been starved for a systematic way to improve the processing, organization and prioritizing of incoming tasks and information. I’ll be implementing some form of this system immediately.